Poor Customer Service Nationwide

Have you ever been to a restaurant, ordered a value meal, and then you were told that they didn't have soda/ice/burger and went on to tell you to instead order tea/hot drink/chicken only to be charged extra?

Have you ever stayed in an unclean hotel room and told that they will clean it, only to later be told that they only clean once a day and 'you missed it'?

Have you ever tried to shop at a mall only to be ignored by the helpers?

Have you ever been to a restaurant, store, or hotel where all the workers are standing and talking instead of doing their job?

These are only a few of the many problems consumers face when traveling and shopping in the Philippines. Poor customer service is one of the many aspects about the Philippines that holds the country back from receiving more tourists.

Of course, these aren't the only problems consumers face.

Businesses constantly demean their customers by lying, giving the wrong prices, gossiping, and being rude.

Filipinos, in their ever non-confrontational ways, ignore the problems they face daily. Instead of changing things for the better, they ignore it and hope things will change on their own.

But they won't.

Things do not change unless you are active doing it. The next time this happens, talk to the manager. Tell them you demand better service since you are a paying customer.

Foreigners do not put up with these actions in their home countries and they definitely do not put up with it in the Philippines. So why do Filipinos?

If the Philippines want more tourists, they will have to change this.

30% of Filipinos Don't Have Toilets

UNICEF says that 26 million people in the Philippines don't have toilets. This should be the number one thing discussed in the media and the number one political issue in the Philippines. Is it, though? Nope.

The article states:

Households without proper toilets are mostly found in Masbate, Northern Samar, and provinces in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, Gnilo said, citing studies.

The Philippines: Budget English Teaching or English Teaching Gone Bad?

Recently there has been a report by the BBC on English teaching in the Philippines. Obviously, the journalist didn't do their homework. They interviewed a few teachers and staff members but didn't bother to see the true inside story.

She looked at courses in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but the programme at De La Salle was a quarter of the price of the others.

"Here it's much cheaper, and I'm really confident that the qualification I'll get is just the same," she says.

The Philippines Should Celebrate Armistice Day

In many countries around the world today (November 11, 2012) the celebration of the end of World War I is taking place. Some countries call it Remembrance Day, others call it Armistice Day or Veterans Day, Poppy Day, and even others call it Anzac Day. No matter what, the celebration is the same. The day celebrates not only the end of the war, but it also celebrates military veterans.

Little is talked about in the Philippines about World War I and many don't even know that the Philippines helped contribute to the war. Nonetheless, as a territory of the United States, the Philippines created an army of 25,000 soldiers to send to Europe to help with the cause. Even though the units did not serve by themselves, they were absorbed into American units and fought alongside them.

The first Filipino to die in World War I was Private Tomas Mateo Claudio, who served in the United States Marine Corp. He died on June 29, 1918 in the Battle of Chateau Thierry in France. In 1950, Tomas Claudio Memorial College in Morong Rizal, Philippines was founded and named in his honor.

As a way to show peace happened with the help of the Philippines, to help educate young people about their great grandfather's duties during the war, and to help us remember all the brave Filipinos who have fought and died in wars to secure peace around the world, the Philippines should celebrate today and show support in bringing this day as a public holiday.

Voting: It's More Fun in the Philippines

Receive 100 pesos for voting in the Philippines, as long as it's for the candidate that pays you.

There have been various reports of jealousy in newspapers and websites by Filipinos about the US election. They look at the US election as a smooth process that lets voters see their results quickly, instead of waiting days, weeks, and sometimes months before seeing the results like here in the Philippines.

Of course, Americans don't see it the same way. They look towards Europe and see how smoothly their elections go and they are jealous of theirs. They see their own election as easily corruptible with voting machines that are easily hacked and "independent" Americans counting the votes that may not exactly be honest when doing so.

Toxic Waste Dumped in Subic

The title sounds shocking, right? News is being reported across the Philippines that US toxic waste has been dumped in Subic.

However, don't let that fool you. The United States did not dump the waste, but we all know Philippine news loves to demonize the US, so that's why "US" or "USA" or "United States of America" is in every title on every website and every television news station.

Here's who's really doing it:

SBMA records showed that wastes dumped by the tanker MT Glenn Guardian were collected from American ships that joined the recently concluded joint military exercises in the country.

The tanker is one of the vessels owned by Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a Malaysian company operating in several countries which services American ships in the Philippines.

Yep! Not American. It is actually Malaysian.

Technically, this should be a minor news story. The government and environmental agencies aren't throwing a fit because freaking toxic waste is being dumped near the Philippines. It is throwing a fit because they didn't own permits to dump it in that location. Actually, the permits would have been easy to get. They dumped it the "safe" distance away (37 kilometers). I put that in quotation marks because that is what the Philippines calls safe.

So actually, instead of the headline reading "Toxic Waste Dumped in Subic", it should be "Government and news media freaks out over company not having a permit".

If you want to throw a fit about this Malaysian company dumping toxic waste, then take it up with the Philippine government. They are the ones that allow it in the first place. You only need a permit to do it.

Philippine Aircraft to Fly in Europe and US

After several years of Philippine aircraft carriers being banned in the US and Europe, they will resume their operations in 2013.

The decision comes after new safety standards have been said to be met:

In its most recent assessment on the Philippines, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said it recognized steps taken by the Aquino administration to conform with global air travel best practices.

Should the Philippines Legalize the Death Penalty?

Lately there have been many individuals in the Philippines discussing whether or not the death penalty should be re-instated. They feel that it'll happen sooner or later, but not until after the elections.

Firstly, I'd like to clarify that I'm completely against the death penalty for any reason. Every Catholic should be. I'm of the belief that if the government kills someone, then I'm killing someone, because the people in the government represents me.

With that being said, I understand why certain people want the death penalty to exist. They see horrible crimes being committed daily on the news. They read about people under the influence of drugs raping and murdering children. They read about men killing families.

Green Energy VS Coal Energy in the Philippines

The Visayan Daily Star is reporting today more information about the Department of Energy deciding whether to build a new coal powered plant near Bacolod City or build more green energy plants.

“If we go RE, it’s going to be more expensive source of energy, so we need to keep a balance of what we can afford…and what the environment can afford,” Petilla said.

Indeed, but it's not just about the environment. The Philippines does not regulate coal mining as much as they should. Death, cancer, and other illnesses occur due to the dust particles and poor mining practices around the country.